Intergenerational Impacts of Family Violence - Mothers and Children in a Large Prospective Pregnancy Cohort Study

Abstract

BackgroundViolence and other adversities commonly co-occur, yet are usually investigated individually. The primary objectives of this paper are to investigate: (i) the relationship between maternal exposure to violence (including childhood abuse and intimate partner violence) and postpartum mental and physical health; and (ii) the extent to which exposure to violence and poor maternal mental and physical health are associated with children's emotional-behavioral difficulties.MethodsProspective pregnancy cohort (n = 1507) followed up to 4 year postpartum. Validated measures used: Composite Abuse Scale; Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, SF-36, Child Maltreatment History Self Report; Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to investigate associations between maternal childhood abuse, intimate partner violence (IPV), maternal health and child emotional and behavioral difficulties at age 4.OutcomesTwo out of five women (41%) reported abuse in childhood, and almost one in three (29%) reported IPV during the first four years of motherhood. Women reporting both physical and sexual childhood abuse had markedly raised odds of IPV and poor physical and mental health at all time points (pregnancy, first year postpartum and four year postpartum). For the index child, violence exposures (maternal childhood abuse or IPV) and poor maternal physical or mental health were associated with higher odds of emotional/behavioral difficulties at age four. In multivariable models (adjusted for child gender and maternal age), cumulative exposures (multiple violence exposures or poor maternal mental or physical health at multiple time points) each independently added to increased odds of emotional-behavioral difficulties. Children of mothers who reported a history of childhood abuse but were not exposed to IPV had odds of difficulties similar to children of mothers not reporting any violence exposure, suggesting resilient outcomes where violence experiences are not repeated in the next generation.InterpretationThe clustering of risk (child and adult violence experiences) and the accumulation of risk within families (IPV, poor maternal health, child difficulties) highlight the need for effective early intervention to limit or ameliorate the impact of violence across the lifespan, and to break the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage.

Physical and mental health of women exposed to intimate partner violence in the 10 years after having their first child: an Australian prospective cohort study of first-time mothers

“… 58 Other potential explanatory factors include pathways via clustering of IPV with other risk factors for poor maternal health, such as adverse childhood experiences, poverty and other social health issues. 59 60 …”

The maternal health study: Study design update for a prospective cohort of first‐time mothers and their firstborn children from birth to age ten

“…Another strand of recent work seeks to delineate complex exposures and intergenerational pathways in order to understand the contribution of individual risk and protective factors to maternal and child health outcomes. Family violence, mental health problems and social adversity commonly co‐occur and may be thought of as “syndemic.” 66 For example, women who began childbearing with a history of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse (41% of mothers) were two to four times more likely to experience IPV and to report poor physical and mental health after childbirth compared to women who did not have a history of childhood abuse 67 . Women reporting both IPV and a history of childhood abuse had the highest odds of reporting poor mental and physical health 67 .…”

“…Family violence, mental health problems and social adversity commonly co‐occur and may be thought of as “syndemic.” 66 For example, women who began childbearing with a history of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse (41% of mothers) were two to four times more likely to experience IPV and to report poor physical and mental health after childbirth compared to women who did not have a history of childhood abuse 67 . Women reporting both IPV and a history of childhood abuse had the highest odds of reporting poor mental and physical health 67 . Children's outcomes largely mirrored these patterns.…”

Judgment Considerations Regarding Decisions about Child Sex Abuse Crime Conducted by Military Member

“…Although the imprisonment imposed on the convicted person has been above the minimum, the Panel of Judges sentenced the imprisonment of 3 (three) years to 6 (months) was at a minimum limit (Gonzalez-Pons, Gezinski, Morzenti, Hendrix, & Graves, 2019). The Panel of Judges should have imprisoned for more than 3 (three) years for 6 (six) months, even exceeding the demands of the Juridical considerations are judges' considerations that are based on juridical facts revealed in the trial and by the fact law including the indictments and statements of witnesses, evidence, articles in the criminal law regulations and so on (Gartland, Giallo, Woolhouse, Mensah, & Brown, 2019).…”